China’s Central Bank Expands More Digital Yuan Pilot Cities

The Bank’s statement said the two co-host cities of the Olympic Winter Games will become the program’s pilot cities.

The People’s Bank of China, the Chinese central bank, stated this past weekend that it will be adding more pilot cities to test its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan, or e-CNY. The digital currency is already being tested in 10 cities, among which are Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chgegdu, Hainan, Xi’an and Dalian. Among new ones where the currency will be tested are Tianjin, Guangzhou, Chongqing and the two that hosted the Winter Olympics this February, Beijing and Zhangjiakou.

When speaking about the currency project, the central bank stated that: “Policies must be designed to stimulate creativity and enthusiasm among the banks, tech firms and governments in the development, promotion and proliferation of the digital currency.” The bank added that its main goal will be to essentially promote the research and development of the e-CNY currency.

According to the latest data, the digital yuan had over 261 million unique users by late 2021, with a total transaction worth of 87.5 billion Yuan, or $13.5 billion. The bank has therefore ramped up testing of the currency in recent years, hoping to take advantage of the opportunities the Olympics would have brought along, had it not been for the induced exclusion of foreign spectators due to covid-19 concerns.